New Year’s Eve celebrations were different for everyone this year, especially for bars and restaurants in B.C.
“Normally, it’s massive,” said Bard and Banker general manager Demian Merino. “New Year’s Eve is one of our busiest nights, second biggest night next to Saint Patrick’s Day.”
In preparation for the New Year celebration, the local pub ordered extra food and champagne and had organized two separate seatings of reservations.
But a last-minute curveball from the province spoiled not only Bard and Banker’s plans Thursday night, but many other restaurants as well. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry implemented a new rule on Wednesday — no alcohol service after 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
READ MORE: B.C. temporarily bans alcohol sales on New Year’s Eve, reports 485 new COVID-19 cases
Restaurants were allowed to stay open till the regular 10 p.m. deadline as long as they didn’t sell alcohol at that time, but liquor primaries — like Bard and Banker — had to close their doors at 8 p.m.
“It was difficult, we had to revamp absolutely everything. Originally, we had two different seatings, a 5 o’clock and a 7 o’clock, so we had to make a lot of phone calls and cancel reservations and disappoint a lot of people, unfortunately,” said Merino.
It was another rule, like mandatory masks, where the responsibility to enforce fell on front line workers.
“Servers and restaurant staff are the ones who must enforce these rules for the safety of everyone, including the staff,” said Dr. Henry in a press conference on Thursday.
It’s an added pressure serving staff have had to get used to.
“We’ve had this role reversal. Instead of ‘the customer is always right,’ it’s like no, we have rules in place and you need to follow them,” said Austin Everett, a server in Vancouver.
“I don’t like to do it. It’s not a fun thing to have to do but it seems like it’s part of our role now.”
And New Year’s Eve was no exception.
“I had two tables who didn’t know about the rule. They did leave because they weren’t aware they couldn’t get liquor, and they came in at 7:55 p.m.,” said Everett.
At Bard and Banker, the staff faced the backlash over the numerous cancelled reservations.
“Some people actually blamed us for the closure, when we had absolutely nothing to do with it. In a perfect world we would have liked to stay open till 12,” said Merino.
At Oak Bay’s Vis-a-Vis, staff scrambled to rearrange reservations and were ready to enforce the provincial health orders.
“I was prepared to do so if necessary, but it didn’t have to come to that and were fortunate that it didn’t,” said Vis-a-Vis bar manager Maeve Fogarty.
Overall, there were a few hiccups, but it was a good night for many restaurants and bars.
“I think everyone was very respectful, it was a smooth night all in all,” said Merino.
Serving staff say most people were happy restaurants were open at all.
“No one put up a fuss when liquor had to be off the tables, no fuss at last call. Everyone was very happy and from our perspective, people were just happy to celebrate somewhere,” said Fogarty.
At least for now, it seems people were willing to follow the rules, giving these front line workers a break to start off 2021.
Rebecca Lawrence
